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This Week In Gaming 9-4-18

PAX West trailers and gameplay, H. Bomberguy covers what makes speedrunning fun and interesting, Shaun on the fake outrage surrounding Doom Eternal, Tara Hillegeist writes about corporate branding and the use of the term engine as it relates to the Doom series, Dan Root on the animated environments of Fez, Red Angel explores the topic of Parasocial Relationships between the player and characters in games where the player is represented as their own entity, Speluky 2 gameplay, Alex Kane with the oral history of Spider-Man 2 and how it changed what a superhero game could be, NoClip guest host Alanah Pearce covers the creation of the Game Grumps and Dream Daddy, Joel Couture has developers talk about their first design experience, 2K asks fans to tell Belgium they want loot boxes, New Frame Plus on the animation of Smash Bros, and more.

“How do you have so much money?” asks the Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord booth manager at Gamescom as I end my half-hour session. People trafficking, my good man. During my short time with the game I made thousands fighting bandits, taking prisoners, and selling the prisoners on to a local town. A guy in town paid me for neutralising the bandit threat as well, and I steal some extra armour for myself after battle. I'm making money all the way down this chain.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is the medieval war ‘em up that often pops up to say: “Hello, I still look good.” We have seen its sieges, its horse archers, and even played some of its multiplayer sword-clashing. But at this year’s Gamescom, I played some of the single player campaign. And oh yes, that’s the good stuff. I played as Valtis, an athletic sword-swinging dude from the Southern Empire who can also throw javelins. I like javelins. I like the sound they make as they whoosh by and impale a man.

I picked up Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark right where I left off at the end of the Kickstarter Backers’ build, guiding my team of fantasy sheriffs on a globetrotting adventure to root out the corruption in their order of peacekeepers. Now, in Early Access, I’m hunting down a cure for one of my suddenly indisposed party members (the cliffhanger from the Kickstarter build) and kicking a party of amateur temple crashers in the pants.

With the closed alpha events for Battlefield V all wrapped up and the open beta just around the corner, developer Dice has confirmed there’ll be some new features to look out for when the open beta starts on September 6. Among them: a profanity filter for PC players.

Battlefield V’s battle royale mode is called Firestorm, and it looks like – as earlier trailers had teased – this is because there a literal storm of fire will shrink to constrict the map, in a stylish interpretation of the iconic battle royale mechanic.

Looks like Agent 47 will have to pack some suntan lotion when Hitman 2 releases in November, because he’ll be heading to the Colombian jungle – possibly to tackle some international crime and definitely to break up some families if the latest trailer, entitled ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, is anything to by which to judge.

The heart of cosmic horror is knowing that humanity and all its ambitions are meaningless. Gorgeous pixel art action-RPG UnDungeon drives this home by beginning after the sudden and largely unimportant fall of our species. We don’t even get to be the protagonists.

There are two things in this world that Valve evidently loves more than anything: hands-off approaches and the invisible hand of the market. And wouldn’t you know it: DOTA 2 card game Artifact is gonna have plenty of both.

With September dropping out of warp in only a few hours, the publishers of Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 today announced that ah, no, the spaceship-battling RTS will not launch in September after all. It’s delayed into January 2019 to allow extra time to polish and improve it (hot tip: paint the game red, it’ll run faster), as is the usual delay way. But! The developers plan to use this time to expand the planned cooperative support into its three story campaigns, so that’s nice. You can use this time to practise your Tyranid gurglegrowling for top Skype fun with your pal.

You may have hoped that the extreme weather events in Just Cause 4 could meet and combine their destructive awesomeness. The whirlwind pulling enemy jeeps up into the air and flinging them into a lightning storm, or a sand storm shot through with lighting strikes. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. Each weather sytem will stick to its specific biome.

I'll admit, I went into my review of Valkyria Chronicles 4 with some trepidation. It's been rough going for the series since the breakout original, with last year's Valkyria Revolution being the nadir. But after playing the first four chapters of the review version, I'm finding that I'm enjoying Valkyria Chronicles 4 more than I ever expected

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice isn’t just a twist on the established Soulsborne formula—it’s a developer taking a confident step forward in a new direction, while also paying homage to some forgotten gems of its past. Going into my appointment to play From Software’s next big title at Gamescom 2018, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, not just because I’d purposefully avoided gameplay footage up until then. But when I got let loose in the world of Sekiro, it became immediately obvious that you shouldn’t assume Sekiro takes after the more prolific of From Software titles.

From Papers Please to Aviary Attorney, I am a sucker for narrative games involving quick thinking and paperwork. When I stumbled across We. The Revolution at this year's PAX West, then, I was keen to jump straight in. Afterward, I needed a good long sit down. Just as a heads-up for those who might find it upsetting, this article touches on topics such as sexual assault and religious persecution.

How does a "mix of Darkest Dungeon and XCOM with a pinch of Hearthstone and FTL" sound to you? Keen? Then you should probably keep an eye on Deep Sky Derelicts, a turn-based roguelike with card-based combat that's leaving Early Access on September 26.

Upcoming creature-battling RPG Heartbeat has immediately piqued my interest, and not just because I’m pining after a new Pokémon game. Everything from its character designs to its promise that I can raise a magical baby moth seems right up my alley.

We have some more Dreams gameplay thanks to a livestream held at PAX West last weekend. It shows the devs piloting a giant mech and fending off an alien invasion, demonstrating just how versatile Dreams’ creation tools can be.

Introducing Overload, a new six-degrees-of-freedom shooter with intuitive controls, amazing lighting and graphics. From the creators of Descent, Overload is the best zero-gravity robot-blasting combat ever. This is the “Coming Soon” version to be made available pre-release.

New Resident Evil 2 Remake Claire Gameplay! We recently played a section of Claire's campaign in the Resident Evil 2 Remake, and then sat down with Capcom to chat about the changes they've made and the things they've kept the same for the hotly anticipated reimagining of this iconic horror game. Expect chat about Chief Irons, William Birkin, Sherry Birkin and of course, Ada Wong!

I was five when Resident Evil 2 originally came out. Unsurprisingly, my parents decided to take heed of the age rating on the front of the box, saving me from the horrors inside. That was a convenient enough excuse then, but now, as a fully-fledged adult, I had no way out of enduring the remastered scares of the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake in my Gamescom 2018 demo.

In a pre-panel press conference today, Bioware developers gave a short presentation about the world of Anthem. The clear message is that they’re not giving up on single-player storytelling with cool NPCs. It’s unclear if what they’re offering is going to be enough, though.

Anthem’s makers at BioWare have had to face down skepticism from fans who’ve so far seen something that seems quite divergent from what the studio has become known for. At a panel at PAX West today, the game’s senior creative leadership again stressed Anthem will tell the stories and build character relationships that have drawn so many to the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series.

Anthem’s endgame will be at least partially characterized by raids, BioWare revealed today at a conference at PAX West. The multiplayer co-op title’s raids are intense adventures culminating in tough fights, one of which we’ve seen already.

Anthem will have a demo – as well as a beta, an alpha, and plenty more chances to play throughout the lead-up to release. Contrary to the modern gaming tradition, the demo is in fact a demo, as in a demonstration of the finished product and not an opportunity to collect feedback and do stress tests.

Hell is at our gates! Rise up as one of the mighty Hell Warders, an ancient order of heroes with unique powers and abilities, to resist the demon hordes head-on. Push back wave after wave of Hell-spawn with an arsenal of weapons, rip apart their fearsome commanders with powerful hero skills, and deploy your army of knights, archers, and mages to bring the fight back to Hell!

11 Bit Studios is currently in the midst of a series of updates and expansions for Frostpunk, but the company also has a new game on the way. Tentatively given the not-so-creative title of Project 8, details on the unannounced project are currently scarce, but we heard a few bits of what to expect when speaking to the team at PAX West.

There’s a new Lord of the Rings game coming. Publisher Athlon Games has entered into a “long-term licensing agreement” with Middle-earth Enterprises, the company which manages the rights to J.R.R. Tolkein’s works, starting with an online game that will serve as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, showcasing a whole host of new additions to the world.

Ubisoft are making a name for themselves saving and improving upon games after release. Siege, The Division and For Honor especially have benefited from this. Let's take a look at how they did it. This video is sponsored by Ubisoft.

Operation Grim Sky gives players exciting new tools and plenty of opportunities to experiment with them. Whether it’s figuring out how to put the first shield defender in play, tactically assessing an entirely reworked map, or even scorching a masterpiece into a wall, the developers crafted the new operators and map with your creativity in mind.

Two Point Hospital launched less than a week ago to a largely positive response – though, predictably, its use of Denuvo proved to be a controversial point for many fans. It seems you don’t have to worry about pesky DRM anymore, however, since a new hotfix out today removes Denuvo from the game.

Armour-clad 2D platformer Shovel Knight will be launching a double expansion on April 9th. As well as the previously announced King Of Cards, Yacht Club Games will be releasing Shovel Knight Showdown, a local-only multiplayer party game that will come as both a free update for owners of the game and as a standalone purchase. You can watch a 10-minute gameplay demo courtesy of IGN below:

The artist behind the tabletop game Tales from the Loop, Simon Stålenhag, has voiced his concern over the stylistic similarities between Generation Zero and his own work since the trailer dropped a couple of weeks ago.

Oh boy, this quote is sure to rile some people up. Speaking at the IFA Technology show in Germany, Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida was quizzed on the current situation surrounding the lack of cross-console play functionality for the PlayStation 4 version of Fortnite.

There’s more in store for Elite Dangerous following the Beyond storyline, developers Frontier have said in a post on the game’s community forum. While there aren’t any firm details on what’s coming with that next milestone, head of communications Zac Antonaci did provide some new details on the roadmap for Elite Dangerous in the year ahead.

Mitich, who was shot twice, is seeking damages from eight defendants including EA, the Jacksonville Landing mall, and pizza parlor Chicago Pizza, where the tournament took place. The suit alleges that the venue was unsafe and that EA “failed to provide a safe and secure environment” for the participants, among other complaints.

NBA 2K19 launches in a couple weeks, and in Belgium, it’ll be missing a certain component: players there will not be able to buy card packs with real-money currency, thanks to a determination by the Belgian Gaming Commission that such transactions constitute illegal gambling.

August 30th marked the 27th anniversary of the original Famicom release of Metal Slader Glory, HAL Laboratory's final independent title before they were bought by Nintendo and put to task making a variety of Kirby and Smash Bros. games for them (though they're technically still independent).

Yesterday, two Fortnite players tied for the 33rd qualifying spot in today’s Summer Skirmish grand finals: The_Real_Cryohme and SSG Colton. The 33rd slot wins a minimum of $5,000 and the potential to win far more; today’s first prize winner will take home $225,000. Only 33 players could advance to the final stage, though. Epic Games had to determine the true last-place finisher with a coin flip.

When John Carmack coined the phrase “game engine” to describe the original DOOM‘s programming code, he meant it to evoke a car: a manufactured thing, assembled in sequence by multiple hands. Much like the rest of Carmack’s career, it was a deliberate attempt at image and tone control, as much a piece of social engineering as the game was computer engineering. It reflected his endless pursuit of building impressive hardware architecture to create super-efficient ways of thinking about very old representational problems and presenting them as innovative solutions. The small size of id Software’s team during DOOM‘s development means his ideas about engineering linger vividly in the game’s architecture to this day.

If someone asks you to name the best Spider-Man game of all time, you don't need an uncanny, prickling spider-sense to intuit the answer. Unless the new PS4-exclusive blockbuster bash-em-up manages to set some stratospheric new benchmark - and since developers Insomniac have boldly messed with the classic costume design, they must be fairly confident - the answer will forever be 2004's Spider-Man 2.

A half dozen former Riot employees have published their own stories about sexism at the company in blog posts after Kotaku’s investigation (here, here, here, here, here and here). Several others detailed their experiences in Twitter threads and Facebook posts and comments. Victims of Riot’s culture are healing together in private channels. The company, for its part, has spent much of the last three weeks internally reacting to the public outing of its sexist culture in meetings and one-on-ones. In an all-hands meeting discussing Kotaku’s reporting, Riot co-founder Marc Merrill began crying, two sources watching told Kotaku. Co-founder Brandon Beck handed him tissues, the sources added. Leaders promised change to current employees, and many of them demanded it.

You know, I have plenty of reasons to enjoy releasing new games. I am sure you can relate to most of them: anticipation of warm reception, fan excitement, monetary gain. But one rather unconventional thing is my anticipation of scam emails. When I’ve started publishing games two years ago, I quickly figured out that people will try to scam you out of the keys. I simply ignored them or asked for verification and they never replied. But since about a year ago, I’ve actually started asking them to share their reasons and insights. I’ve learned a few things that I think could benefit you too if you are publishing games on Steam.

When examining a piece of art, we’re examining a human-made object from all its corners: We remove it from the wall of the present, holding it up to the light of the past, casting its shadow into the future. Framed by the context of its circumstances, all creations manifest the particular biases, quirks and prejudices of their creators. To ignore the humanity within art is to ignore the art itself. But the humanity that should concern observers and appreciators of any art need not only be the humanity behind the art but also of those who stand before it. Both creators’ and the audience’s context and circumstances matter.

Stop me if this sounds like gibberish, but I just had a game of Vermintide 2 on Legend, where a Chaos patrol appeared out of nowhere and got aggro’d, and although we managed to kill ’em and finish the run, our Kruber died and we lost a grim, so despite having 3 tomes, a grim and a loot dice, I only got a General’s Vault and the whole run was a bust ‘cos I didn’t get any reds! If that doesn’t make any sense, don’t worry because I wrote that paragraph to be impenetrable to anyone who isn’t playing Vermintide 2 on high difficulty. It’ll make sense at the end, trust me.

Come with me on a journey of sorts as we explore the mindset of a type of gamer we sometimes find mystifying, someone who’s put an extraordinary amount of time into a game, but has left a negative, or even angry review on the Steam page.

Every game developer starts somewhere. Maybe it was a goofy little Twine project. Maybe it was a mod level. Maybe it was drawing a D&D module on graph paper, or scribbling their own Mario levels on notebook paper in class. Maybe it was inventing new "house rules" for Risk or Monopoly.

Many of my mercenaries have died under arms, but Meinolf’s death was the only tragedy. While collecting a reward in the town of Birkenstrand, my band were approached by a townsman who insisted the kid was such trouble their best option was to foist him on me. My band, the Stalwart Standard, had a vacancy: the swordsman of the crew had died to a ghoul, so I outfitted this new, youngest member with partially intact and presumably bloody gear. Meinolf cost me just six gold, or one day’s wages, because just a few turns into his first battle he was dead. I sent him to block an enemy brigand on a ridge from moving forward and attacking down at my men, which he did successfully for two rounds before he was clubbed to death. The Stalwart Standard were hiring again.

Oh and also let's commit to me destroying my entire life for charity trying to play all of donkey kong 64 in one sitting. Uh oh. Why did I do this

I've gotta change my avatar I actually really don't like bananas. Maybe I hate them because of this game. Or maybe it's because one time I ate some rotten pizza and it tasted just enough like banana that I gag. Lol I wrote all all of this and you read it. The internet is a miracle.

How does a popular gaming YouTube channel make the pivot to video games development? And why? Guest host Alanah Pearce visits the Game Grumps to uncover the unlikely story of Dream Daddy - the gay dad dating sim with a heart of gold.

How do you adapt a character's animation to the needs of a fighting game like Smash Bros? Learn how Smash Bros animation prioritizes the needs of gameplay AND character simultaneously. Subscribe to see more game animation analysis videos!

Prey: Mooncrash is a pretty cool game that takes a genre known for encouraging creative solutions to problems by giving you All Of The Powers, and turns it on its head by more or less forcing you to come up with creative solutions through throwing roadblocks in your way. It's kinda neat! And it's DLC for Prey! And stuff!

Making a Metroidvania is an enormous design challenge. How do you let a player loose in an interconnected world, without them becoming lost or frustrated?

In this series, I'll be looking at key Metroid titles, and games inspired by the franchise, to see how this type of world is structured. In this episode, I'm looking at the SNES all-time classic, Super Metroid.

In this video I took a look at a few of the ways you can make chromaticism sound goofy using the soundtrack from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as an example. There's a lot of different types of sounds or effects you can get out of chromatic notes, and this game's music was the perfect showcase for some of the more silly ones.

When a video game is cancelled, it can be difficult to judge how it would have fared if history had gone differently. Most of the time, the public is only treated to a small snapshot of the title’s content; some screenshots, a bit of canned footage or maybe even a vertical slice or two. As promising as titles like StarCraft: Ghost or Star Wars 1313 might have appeared during their brief existence, the reality is that the world only ever gleaned an idea of what these projects might have offered upon release. Even their developers have no way of knowing exactly how they would have netted out.

This is the story of a 'bug' in Maxis’s 1996 open world game SimCopter that wasn't what it appeared to be, and how it was intertwined with the origin story of one of the world’s most infamous pranksters.

Retrohistories is funded entirely through the contributions of supporters on Patreon. Rewards include names/avatars in the credits and behind-the-scenes updates.

In which I discuss about my experience at Gamescom 2018 and why I'm too weird to just enjoy the amazing games I got to see and play; instead asking questions about the nature of the industry, the ever-evolving definition of "media", how that affects companies presenting their games and in turn how it can potentially affect the reporting on said games.

Hideo Yoshizawa the director/producer of the original Ninja Gaiden, and Keiji Yamagishi, the composer fo the original Ninja Gaiden had a chance to play The Messenger at Bitsummit 2018. The duo loved what they played and we invited them to check out the latest version and give their thoughts on The Messenger and its strong inspiration from Ninja Gaiden.